Contemplating Comedy | Slope of Hope

Those of you who have read me for a while may have noticed a surprisingnumber of posts are oriented toward stand-up comics. Just one glance at mycategory cloud confirms this – – the “Humor” section is much larger thanmany of the others, even though this is ostensibly a blog about chartingthe financial markets, which is about as far away from comedy as can beimagined.

I’ve been thinking about this myself: what is this fascination I’ve got with comedians? After all, I don’t even like the vast majority of them. Ido, however, fixate on the greats like George Carlin, Greg Giraldo, EmoPhillips, Richard Pryor, Patton Oswalt, Norm MacDonald, and others.

Having thought it over, here’s what I think is the appeal:

ONE MAN BAND – stand-up comedy is a one-man deal. You’re on your own. Youstart on your own. You succeed or fail on your own. It’s really up to yourown drive, grit, luck, self-discipline, and creativity. That appeals tome, and it lines up, piece by piece, with what it’s like to do what I do(notwithstanding the fact that I’m not on stage).

CROWD CONTROL – by definition, a stand-up is going to have a relationshipwith his audience. Some audiences are good. Some not so good. And, fromtime to time, there’s going to be some jerk-off or drunk who just wants togive you a hard time. Again, this is precisely what I’ve lived with duringmy nearly thirteen years as a blogger and web broadcaster.

THE LONG TAIL – there are thousands of people who stand in front of amicrophone and try to tell jokes around the country. A couple hundred areable to scrape together a living with it. A few dozen are very successfulwith it. And a tiny handful get stinking rich at the profession (thinkJerry Seinfeld or Larry the cable guy). It’s just the same in thewonderful world of blogging (I’m somewhere between the “scraping by” and“successful” categories myself).

So, yes, I feel a certain kinship with these folks, and there’s one finalelement I’d like to suggest, based largely on our patron saint GeorgeCarlin, and that is INTEGRITY. Early in his career, George dressed in anice suit, had a clean haircut, and did jokes that night club crowds wouldenjoy. He knew deep down he wasn’t being true to himself, and he justabout torpedoed his career by deciding to adhere to what he really feltand saying what he really wanted to say.

The same goes for Greg, who ditched a Harvard law degree and role asan attorney to do what he loved (R.I.P.).

Luckily for all of us, what George had to say resonated with a certain portionof the population, and as the years went on, he aligned closer and closerto his heart. He took a big chance, and it worked. That isn’t always forfor artists.

I try to do the same here. I write what’s on my mind. The public mood andpublic markets don’t necessarily support what’s in my mind and my heart,but I need to stay true to them both. I don’t think I could ever be astand-up, but I’m glad life has given me at least one decent way toexpress myself that has some important traits in common with theprofession. And for that, I thank you.